Divided By War
by Corporal Fire
Summary: Eirik, a Nord man is arrested along with a group of Stormcloak soldiers when returning to Skyrim after visiting Morrowind for a few years. He is left to rebuild his life and fight the Empire as the Imperial army oppresses the worship of his beloved Divine, Talos. After joining the Companions, a bandit group manages to changes his life forever in an unexpected way.
1. Chapter 1: Helgen Awaits

I awoke on a wagon, my hands bound and my belongings taken. All I had left was a roughspin tunic and some footwraps for clothes. The man across from me explained how I ended up in this mess. Apparently, as I was trying to cross the boarder into Skyrim, the Imperials ambushed us, although I fell unconscious and had no memory of this. According to another man in the wagon, who was caught trying to steal a horse, it was fault of the Stormcloaks, assuming it was their presence that lead to our capture by the Empire. This didn't make sense, I grew up in Skyrim, why should I be have been arrested for returning after spending a few years in another province? Besides, the Dunmer native to Morrowind were nicer than I was raised to believe them to be. I began to listen again when I heard that Ulfric Stormcloak was to be executed today. I was shocked to hear this, since even I happened to know that name and it's fame (of infamy, depending on the person), despite my recent absence. He was leading the opposition to the Empire's Imperial army, defending Nord culture and beliefs. As we approached the village the Imperials were taking us to, I knew my death awaited me. I wish I'd have seen more before I departed from this world. Maybe I could have learned more about the world; or maybe I could have dropped in to see my parents more while they were still around. I wish I did, but now that's too late. The man across from me said that a Nord's last thoughts should be of home... I wonder how many kept true to that in their final moments. I'm sure all those men who fought in those battles of past times tried to think of their homes and families in their dying moments. The thief made a few pleas to the Divines, asking for their help. I should ask for their help as well. Before the cart stopped, I muttered a prayer under my breath, asking for a miracle; a second chance to try again. I was young, I still had a lot to live for. I heard an Imperial call for the cart to be stopped, snapping my attention back into the current situation. I was scared, I wasn't ready to die, and if I was going to die, I'd want to die fighting so I'd reach Sovngarde. We all got off the cart, and were lined up in side by side in two lines, waiting to be named on the Imperial's list. The thief was called forward, and he called behind him as he ran "You're not going to kill me!" since he believed he was innocent and undeserving of execution. Not long after, an archer took him out as the Captain of the Imperials demanded, eliminating any hope I had of attempting an escape. I was the last man remaining at the cart, and I was called forward.

"Who are you?" the Imperial asked.

"Eirik of Whiterun" I stated solemnly. I was raised in Whiterun for most of my life, and I still call it home. Like any true Nord, I began to think of my life there with my family, before my parent's died. I looked quite different from my brother, who had blonde hair and dark blue eyes. I had light brown hair worn around shoulder length on the other side and saved on the other, with piercing light blue eyes contrasting it rather nicely. I had a little stubble on my face and a fair completion highlighting the navy blue war paint around my eyes. One triangle under one eye, and a slash going across my other eye and through my eyebrow. I lived up to the average image of a Nord man, I had a strong build and light skin, so it was hard to mistake which race I was.

"You picked a bad time to come home to Skyrim, kinsman" he replied in the same tone as mine. Glancing down, he check his list and said to his ally "Captain. What should we do? He's not on the list."

"Forget the list. He goes to the block" the woman replied coldly. Her words scared me, reminding me of my impending doom. I'm surely going to end up in a plane of Oblivion at this rate, with no hope of going to Sovngarde.

"By your orders, Captain" the man replied. He continued in a sympathetic voice "I'm sorry. At least you'll die here, in your homeland." At least that, I thought to myself. "Follow the Captain, prisoner." I did as I was told, not fighting my fate. As I awaited my death, I listened to an Imperial talk to Ulfric, saying that some may call him a hero. Then again, he said he usurped the throne using the power of the voice, whatever that meant. The man continued, stating the supposed noble nature of the execution, explaining that his death would bring about peace for Skyrim. A loud sound echoed through the sky, interrupting the conversation.

"What was that?" One of them asked the group.

"It's nothing. Carry on" the man talking to Ulfric replied.  
"Yes, General Tullius" the Captain answered. Turning to the Priestess of waiting near the chopping block. "Give them their last rites."

The Priestess nodded and said "As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines

upon you, as you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved-" Before she could continue, the Stormcloak soldier before me said

"For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with." What a brave man, facing his death fearlessly and holding to his belief in Talos until the end. As I studied Nord history, I learned lots of him as both a mortal and a Divine, and am still proud to say I worship him, even if the Imperials refuse to acknowledge him as one of the Nine Divines.

"As you wish" the Priestess answered.  
Complaining, the Stormcloak said "Come on, I haven't got all morning." The Imperial Captain ignored him, and pushed him down to his knees in front of the chopping block with her foot and held him there. As much as I didn't want to see my kin die, I strangely couldn't pull my eyes away from the horrific scene before me. "My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?" The black hooded executioner ignored the comment, and hefted his axe into the air and brought it down on the man's neck, decapitating him in one clean blow. His head swiftly tumbled into the basket waiting below the block, leaving a bloody trail behind it. I shuddered in fear, knowing my time at the block was fast approaching.

"You Imperial bastards!" a Stormcloak woman called from a direction I didn't bother to notice, since I had bigger problems to focus my mind on.

"Justice!" a man supporting the Imperials called.

"Death to the Stormcloaks!" a woman shouted in support.

The man who was across from me on the wagon somberly added "As fearless in death as he was in life."

"Next," the Captain called "the Nord in the rags!"

Before I could take a step, the loud sound spread through the warm air. "There it is again. Did you hear it?" the man with the list asked. She ignored his concern and demanded for me to come to the block. The man coaxed me forward, his tone misleading for the words that accompanied it. I gulped nervously and came forward. Doing as the Stormcloak before me did, I faced forward so the Captain could shove me down with her foot roughly. I began to sweat out of fear, praying silently for what awaited me in the afterlife. With my head turned sideways, I stared blankly up at the executioner in a way that expressed the bitter yet numb feelings that consumed me as I awaited death. I began to think of home once more to keep my mind off things, remembering my brother's smiling face from when we were kids. It only helped so much, as I remembered that he went missing when I was around three, and he never returned. We could only assume he died somewhere in the wilderness. My thoughts then went to my parents and all the good times we had together. Such as when my dad tried to teach me to wield a weapon, and when my mom and I would discuss what it meant to follow Talos with valor. My mind slipped back to reality as I saw a dark figure fly out from behind the mountains in the distance.

"What in Oblivion is that?" Commander Tullius asked rhetorically.

The Captain shifted her focus long enough to ask "Sentries, what to do you see?" While this went on, the executioner hefted his axe upwards to bring it down on my neck in the same manner as the man before me.

"It's in the clouds!" an Imperial called as the figure landed on the tower that overlooked the terrible event that was about to take place. It's weight shook the ground violently.

"Dragon!" another called as my potential killer and the Captain fell from the shock. He feebly attempted to regain his balance to resume his task, only to be knocked off his feet once again as the dragon shot a cone of power from it's mouth. I was lucky to be on the ground at the time. The Imperials called out orders to protect the townspeople and fight the dragon as I was helped to my feet by someone, much to my amazement. The Nine Divines really did give me a second chance at life, in an unexpected way.

"Hey kinsman. Get up!" the man who sat across from me said as he helped me stand "The Gods won't give us another chance!" I scurried to my feet and ran after him as we retreated for the cover of a nearby tower to escape the dragon's fierce onslaught. Without another option, I ran up the tower steps, only to have the wall in front of me, not far from the bottom, shattered by the dragon's head. It leaned in and exhaled a stream of fire in an attempt to kill me before it flew off to another target. I stood there for a moment, catching my breath from the shock and sudden shift of events. My fellow prisoner and I leaped out the hole onto a nearby roof, as he commanded me to. I managed to get around the ruin and fire to get out of the burning house and followed after him. He lead me through the flaming city to a safe location out of the dragon's path of destruction. As I ran past, I watched men and women die left and right as they attempted to protect Helgen from the destruction of the beast. They clearly had a noble side, yes, but they were just moments ago about to lop off my head in the name of their cause. No, the Stormcloaks proclaimed Talos and wanted to reclaim Skyrim from the Empire, as I noted from their discussions. If I were to pick a side, I'd go with the ones who saved me from death. I followed behind him as we made our escape into Helgen Keep.


	2. Chapter 2: To Riverwood We Ride! (By Rid

Helgen Keep was rather dark inside, to say the least. I followed the Stormcloak from before, who eventually told me his name was Ralof, into the Keep to escape both the dragon and the Imperial army. He opened the door for me and we both rushed in, Ralof shut the doors behind us. We walked into a stone room, lit by sunlight from above, empty save for a lone table and chair with a few dishes on it. As I walked over, I noticed a Stormcloak soldier lying dead at the base of the chair, his torso covered in sword slashes seemingly from an unsuccessful encounter with an enemy soldier. I frowned as I took in the sight, unable to draw my attention to the multiple doors surrounding us and contemplate where they may lead. How many more had to die today? As soon as I woke up on the wagon, I was met by death everywhere I turned. Thank the gods for my own safety, but many of my kinsmen have gone to Sovngarde today. I wanted it all to end, I wanted to just get away and restart my life, since there was nothing left for me. Since my parent's death I've been on my own, so I departed for Morrowind to start exploring Tamriel, only to be ambushed and dragged into a civil war that did not concern me in the slightest until they tried to kill me, despite having not committed a crime. I've never broken a law in my life. I've never stolen anything or killed anyone, so the idea of being decapitated for being in the wrong place at the wrong time scared me. Even now, I didn't plan on changing that. Anyways, when my parents died, I lost everything. We lost our house in Whiterun and I wasn't welcome in Jorrvaskr, since I had limited experience with my mace. So I left without anything to lose, or so I thought when I left my home town. I'd travel to Whiterun as soon as I could, so I could find some shelter. My parents each had a bed in the Jorrvaskr's living quarters, so that would be a nice place to start if I could join the Companions.

Ralof snapped me from my thoughts, telling me I should take the dead man's equipment for myself. He wouldn't need it in his current state anyways. "I can't. My hands are bound." I said as I longingly stared at the armor on the dead man.

"Here, let me get those off for you" Ralof replied. He pulled a knife from his pocket and cut the rope from my wrists for me. I thanked him and stretched my arms, grateful to have my freedom once again. Within seconds, the armor and axe were off the dead man's body and on me. I suited up and gripped the small axe tightly in my hand, nervous of whether or not I'd be able to wield it like I would my mace. After some thought, I convinced myself that I'd be fine. Shortly after equipping my gear, the Imperial Captain and a fellow soldier ran through one of the doors to finish us off. I gulped nervously and held my axe tightly, readying it in front of me. Ralof did the same, and he charged into the fight with his axe swinging wildly and landing multiple hits on both of them. I ran in after and landed a few hits here and there. Much to my surprise, I landed the killing blow on the Imperial Captain and Ralof finished off the other soldier a hit or two later. It was my first kill, and it did not sit well with me. I felt guilty for defending myself, somehow. I put the feeling aside to deal with later; I had bigger problems at the moment. "This way." he called as he came to a door ahead of us and opened it. I nodded and followed after him. The rest was all a blur of running and killing, all of which I blocked out to focus on where I'd go if I made it out alive. I mindlessly looted bodies, cupboards, tables, shelves, and barrels for potions, money, and arrows that I'd hopefully figure out how to use. I was a terrible shot, but that's another story for another time. Having extra weapons could never hurt, so I took a bow with some arrows anyways. Along the way I came across an iron mace, a hide shield, a spell book teaching the sparks spell, and an interesting book called "The Book Of The Dragonborn" that I planned on reading when I had time. I was always interested in learning about the world around me, so I was looking forward to reading it. Eventually, after sneaking past a bear, Ralof and I managed to leave the cave that Helgen Keep was connected to.

I followed Ralof out of the cave and into the bright sunlight that coated the forested land of Skyrim. It blinded me at first, but I quickly adjusted. I put my mace away and listened to Ralof as we walked, he offered to let me stay with him at his sister and her family in their house in Riverwood, and I certainly didn't reject the offer for a roof over my head, even if it was only for one night. We continued in silence until we arrived, and we recounted the events to his sister. She (along with everyone in town I talked to) reacted with utter shock; we Nords all thought these dragons were mere myths. They weren't anymore, not after Helgen they weren't. After talking to Ralof's sister, we headed inside her house, and celebrated our survival with plenty of Nord mead, like a true Nord would. I eventually stumbled to an empty bed and passed out until some time late in the morning. My rest was far from restful; I was haunted by the events of the day. Dragons and headsmen chased me, as I continued to run for my life out of the burning remains of Helgen that continued on endlessly. I watched civilians die around me, but I didn't have time to stop and help them. And to make matters worse, I heard the echoing voice of the dead Imperial cry out to me as I fled, tormenting me with cries of agony that I had caused. I wish I could take back my killing blow, but it wasn't possible. I'd never tell anyone of my weakness; I'd overcome it alone. I needed to be strong for my family watching me from Sovngarde. I needed to make them proud of their son. When I awoke, I was feeling groggy, a little hungover, and rather jumpy from the horrid dream. Shaking it off, I got ready, thanked my host, and left quietly to depart for Whiterun where I'd start over.


End file.
